Of Easter Eggs and Mischief
by Zofie C. Field
Summary: Some Easter fluff
1. The Hunt

_A little early Easter story._ _Technically references Ch2 of Irish Lass, but can be entirely independent._

_Note: None of these characters are mine._

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><p><strong>Bunny-Man<strong>

This is what happens when you mess with New York's finest detective. You get hot and sweaty, and not in a good way. You get itchy fabric worn by a different hot, sweaty man one day a year for the last thirty years. You get an outfit that will never be clean enough to make you comfortable wearing it. You get the bunny suit. Tall ears, bushy tail, giant paws, and a decidedly terrifying plastic buck-toothed bunny face.

This is what happens when you mess with Kate Beckett. You end up as the giant bunny-man at the New York City Annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Castle squirmed as he zipped up the back of the enormous bunny suit. His skin was crawling. He was itchy all over. His head was spinning from the stench. And he hadn't even put on the head piece yet. He was buying the city a new bunny suit, as soon as he had hands again instead of paws. Taking a final deep breath of fresh air, Castle slid the head piece on and adjusted it so he could see out the mesh eye holes. The Hunt was about to start. Showtime.

Castle stepped out of the tent where he'd been dressing and surveyed the scene. There were easily two hundred kids under the age of eight milling about behind the starting line, anxiously awaiting permission to surge into the park on the hunt for eggs.

On his way along the edge of the park towards the starting line, Castle walked a few paces behind a little girl and her father. Unable to adequately see where his feet were going, Castle tripped on a tree root, and grunted loudly as he struggled to regain his balance. His grunt was loud enough to catch the attention of the little girl, who turned around. Upon seeing the enormous bunny, who was currently hopping up and down on one foot emitting little pained whimpers, the little girl's eyes widened. Castle stopped hopping when he saw the little girl watching him. He waved his giant bunny paw at her. The little girl stared for a moment. Her mouth fell open. And then she began to scream. It was one of those rare ear-piercing I'm-only-two-years-old-and-this-terrifying-furry-thing-is-looking-at-me screams.

"Oh honey, don't cry. It's ok." Castle took a slow step towards the little girl, extending his bunny arms toward her. With one last look of sheer terror, she ripped her hand out of her father's grasp and took off running as fast as her little legs would carry her, screaming all the way. Her father gave Castle a nasty look and took off after his daughter.

Castle was slumped against the tree, cursing quietly, when he became aware someone laughing behind him. He turned around to see none other than Kate Beckett, giggling her head off.

"Apparently she wasn't a fan, Castle. I though all women loved you?" Kate was laughing so hard she could barely get the words out.

"Did you set that up? You've got to be kidding me! How did you get her to scream like that?" Castle stared at Beckett accusingly.

"I had nothing to do with that. Honest. You're just genuinely terrifying in that suit." She reached down and picked up a basket filled with brightly colored Easter eggs, which had been sitting unnoticed at her feet. "Here, take this. It'll make you look less frightening."

"Hmmm… If you say so." Not entirely convinced of her innocence, Castle resumed his trek towards the starting line, Easter basket in hand and Beckett in tow.

When they reached the starting line, where Castle would signal for the Hunt to begin, Kate put a hand on his shoulder. "Castle," she said seriously, looking into his mesh bunny eyes, "I want you to go out there and be the best bunny you can be." At this, her face broke into a grin. He heard her laughing to herself as she walked towards the safety of the side lines. Castle shook his head. At least someone found his predicament funny.

The mayor walked over, and handed Castle the horn he'd use to start the egg hunt. They chatted for a few minutes, until the clock struck ten, and the mayor gave him the go-ahead to start the festivities.

Castle honked the horn, and the Annual Easter Egg Hunt began. Kids spilled across the starting line, flooding the park. Castle watched the mad scramble for eggs, his mind wandering back to when Alexis was young.

A whistle blew in the distance. Castle glanced up, looking for the source of the noise. Instead, he saw six kids, with flash mob precision, drop their Easter baskets and turn towards him. Before he had the sense to be alarmed, they were on him. One crawled up his legs, while two scurried up his back and pinned his arms to his sides. One crawled up his front and stared menacingly at him through the mesh eye holes. In shock, Castle dropped the Easter basket he had been carrying and gave a little shriek. The two remaining kids snatched the basket. The whistle blew again, and as suddenly as they'd appeared, the six kids were gone (along with his Easter basket), disappearing among the other children.

Castle plopped down on the ground, stunned.

"Wow Castle, those kids were vicious!" Castle glanced up to find Beckett standing above him. She offered him a hand and helped him up. As he stood, something shiny caught his eye.

Hanging around Beckett's neck was a large brass whistle.

Her triumphant grin told him all he needed to know. He lunged for her, but like a shot, she was gone, running off around the edge of the park, laughter trailing along behind her.

"Beckett! You're going to pay for this!" Castle started after her, stumbling over his enormous bunny feet. "I'm totally making you be Mrs. Claus at my Christmas party! No excuses!"

She glanced back at him and winked. "You'll have to catch me first!"

And catch her he would.

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><p><em>Thanks for reading!<em>


	2. This Time Next Year

_This takes place a year after Chapter 1. Eventually I'll collect the holiday one shots in chronological order and make them their own story, but for now, they're happy in their separate holidays._

_Note: None of these characters are mine._

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><p>"Please sweetheart? Please let me have the egg?" Rick looked imploringly at the five-year-old sitting across from him.<p>

She contemplated him for a moment, before shaking her head. "No."

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><p><em>Two hours earlier:<em>

Rick Castle was the Easter Bunny. Not the real Easter Bunny, of course. That had been last year's horror (thoughts of that sweaty rabbit costume still make him cringe). This year, he was the precinct's personal Easter Bunny. He had painstakingly (with a lot of help from a certain amused redhead) filled 199 large plastic eggs with candy, little dolls, toy cars, stickers, and temporary tattoos. He figured the eggs would give everyone at the precinct a laugh.

The 200th egg, however, contained no candy, no dolls, no toy cars, no stickers or tattoos. The final egg contained a single slip of paper and a platinum diamond ring. The paper read simply, _Will you marry me?_

Castle spent the Friday morning before Easter littering the precinct with the plastic eggs. He nestled them underneath desks, behind coffee makers, in vending machines, in various light fixtures, in filing cabinets, and in two morgue body drawers. Only one egg did he hand deliver to its recipient, tucking it neatly into her coffee mug. He was so giddy with excitement (and nerves), he couldn't sit around waiting for Kate to arrive and find the egg. Thankfully, hiding 200 eggs can take copious amounts of time if necessary.

By the time Castle finished hiding all the eggs, it was well past 9am. Hopping off the elevator on their floor, he found Beckett sitting at her desk, coffee mug in hand.

"Good morning, Detective!"

"Hey, Castle. I hear you've been playing Easter Bunny again. Didn't get enough of it last year?"

"After four hours in that bunny costume, I think I'm permanently damaged. Doomed to play bunny forever." He was rambling. He knew he was. But he was too excited to sound intelligent.

"Well, the guys in Evidence are certainly looking to do you some damage. They said you picked the lock to the evidence locker and hid eggs in there?" Kate gave him a pointed look that barely masked her amusement at his antics.

"Speaking of eggs, have you opened yours?" Castle couldn't take the banter any longer. He had to know.

"Oh, Lanie's niece is visiting today. She's five, adorable, and the youngest of six kids," Kate explained as Castle heart fluttered a little, like it did whenever Kate talked about kids. "She was moping this morning about how her older brothers always steal all of her Easter eggs. So I gave her mine."

Castle's faced fell and he stared at her in abject horror for a moment, before springing up and rushing towards the elevators, shouting over his shoulder, "Back in a minute. Just need to, uh, go check with Lanie about something."

Beckett watched him go, amused, before pulling out her phone and texting Lanie.

Castle barreled out of the elevator towards the morgue. Lanie and her five-year-old niece were perched on an autopsy table when he came tearing in. In the little girl's hands was Kate's egg.

"Hi honey. My name's Rick. Can I have that Easter egg?" Castle panted, completely out of breath.

The little girl looked him straight in the eye. "No."

Ah, stubborn. Excellent. He silently cursed himself for not bringing another egg to use as a bargaining chip. Judging by the pile of candy wrappers next to Lanie, she had already found and disposed of the two eggs from the body drawers.

Castle adopted his best stubborn-child-persuasion voice, which he had honed to perfection when Alexis was little.

"Please? It's a very special egg. If you give it to me, I'll tell you where there are ten more eggs hidden."

A moment of 5-year-old contemplation…

"No."

Castle slumped against the table.

"Please?"

"No."

"Please sweetheart? Please let me have the egg?" Rick looked imploringly at the five-year-old sitting across from him.

She considered him for a moment, before shaking her head. "No."

Castle could swear she was enjoying this. Somehow her five-year-old brain had already mastered the unique ability to torment men.

Lanie watched the entirely unsuccessful negotiation go on for a few more minutes. Once Castle was literally begging the little girl for mercy, Lanie leaned over and whispered in the girl's ear for a moment. With a nod and a sly smile, the girl handed Rick the egg without further protest. Confused by his sudden victory, but unwilling to question what had just transpired, Castle immediately headed out of the morgue, sprinting for the elevator. Standing, waiting for the elevator car to come, Castle popped open the egg to check the safety of its contents.

Inside was a solitary slip of paper with a single word, written in Kate's handwriting.

_Yes_.

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><p><em>Thanks for reading!<em>


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